MP3 player

[johnf]

HI all you teckies out there

I would like to use a mp3 player in my car (2007 ford galaxy) which has a mp3 socket will the player recharge its self via this socket or will I have to use the USB on the PC

I havent bought a Mp3 yet and would like to check this out

 

[Night Train]

I can't answer specifically as I don't know about your car, its socket or the player you want to use.

In my car I don't have a MP3 compatible input so I fitted a MP3 FM transmitter into one of the spare switch positions in the dashboard. I now play my MP3 via a spare preset on the tuner, I assume other nearby drivers can join me in my musical enjoyment if they so wish. :lol:

For charging the player I plug it into to the car charger for my satnav using the mini usb. The mini usb will become the phone charging standard so it is worth haing them around the car anyway. You could hide one away somewhere and leave the player charging when you are away from your car.
I would assume that if the connection is a miniusb then it may well charge but is it is a 3.5mm jack then it won't.

Interestingly I can charge my player from the laptop when I am transfering music but I can't charge my satnav from my laptop which is more annoying as I only have a car charger.

 

[cambournepete]

If your car's like mine then the MP3 socket is just for the headphone output from the mp3 player and won't charge anything.
For that you'll need a suitable cigarette lighter socket (or whatever the pc term is now) charger. I got a two way charger for iPhone and USB for £7 from Tesco.

 

[cambournepete]

The mini usb will become the phone charging standard

Except for Nokia :roll:
They are moving to mini USB for data transfer though.

 

[Michael7]

No I don't think any player can charge through the headphone socket as this socket is usually only for left and right channel sound (except for remotes built into the headphones where maybe a small charge may exit the socket, I'm not sure)


For using an mp3 player in the car, having a player that supports "Rockbox" http://www.rockbox.org/ is very handy as it has a car adaptor mode where when you have the mp3 player charging through the cigarette lighter socket and you switch off the car the player shuts down and boots up again when you start the car.

 

[RogerS]

I have no idea if this story has any veracity, and technology does move on so may no longer be relevant even if true (!), but I do remember when mobiles first came out that we were advised not to leave them continually plugged into the car cigarette lighter as the mobile battery ended up being 'cooked'.

 

[13eightyfour]

With regards to the charging from the head unit, Some do and some dont is the conclusion ive come to. The other half has a headunit that accepts mp3 players, which doesnt charge her 4th gen ipod nano, but it will charge my 1st gen nano. I have no idea why and its a little strange.

The mp3 players plug directly into a cable from the rear of the headunit though, with adapters for various types and not through a 3.5mm jack at the front.

 

[Chris_belgium]

I've looked into this when deciding what system i wanted for my ipod.

First of all do yourself a pleasure and buy an Ipod, there are a lot more options for ipods than the other brands.

Basically there are four options:

Fm transmitter, you plug this in your ipod and then it transmits on a frequencey you choose. This gives 'poor' sound quality (still good tough) and does not charge the battery.

Using the aux plug on the radio, the aux is basically instead of plugging in the headphones you plug in the speakers off your car through the radio, better sound quality, but no charging of the battery

Most car stereo brands offer a cable wich you can plug in the ipod into the disc changer socket in the back of the radio, this will charge the battery and you control the music directly from the radio, this is the system I use and like it a lot!!

Last option is a mp3 ready radio, wich offcourse charges the ipod but you have to control the music from the radio screen, wich I do not like since when you have thousands of songs it's easier to just select them directly from the Ipod instead of through the radio, this is personal preference offcourse.



If you want to use your existing radio the option with the cable wich goes to the cd changer socket is IMHO the best solution.

 

[johnf]

Thanks for your input everyone
still not sure weather I will be able to control and charge the MP3 or ipod via the radio controls I will have to borrow one and try it out

 

[superunknown]

Not sure if this is what you are after but I have a tomtom and it has a built in mp3 player and takes sdcards for storage. I have 8gb in it at the moment but I think it takes up to 16gb.

It charges fine from the lap top and in the car, it also transmits in FM so no cable hook up needed. Volume control is via car stereo.



You can also find you way home when you get lost

 

[johnf]

I have worked out the best system for me is to convert cd's to mp3 files load them on to a single cd and the radio cd player plays them.

I can get around 180 tracks on a single CD this way

 

[paulm]

I have worked out the best system for me is to convert cd's to mp3 files load them on to a single cd and the radio cd player plays them.

I can get around 180 tracks on a single CD this way

How do you do that John ?

Thks, Paul

 

[johnf]

I have worked out the best system for me is to convert cd's to mp3 files load them on to a single cd and the radio cd player plays them.

I can get around 180 tracks on a single CD this way

How do you do that John ?

Thks, Paul

Hi paul

what you do is rip a cd using windows media player make sure at the same time you convert the cd files to mp3 files then burn those files to a disc.

you have to make sure you select the disc format to mastered and the mp3 format to data.

then if you have an mp3 enabled radio cd player the mp3 file will play.

The reason you get 150 plus tracks on one cd is the mp3 files are loads smaller than audio tracks . I'm guesing at 180 it may only be 165 but I currently have 7 cds onto one with space to spare.

If you have a radio cd with a good screen you also get the bonus of the cd info showing on the screen such as the artist and name of the track.

I hope this is clear to you it took me a long time to work it out as a computer amateur